Dive
by Aro VII
Summary: Hank is just your average wageslave, earning just enough to support his family in their middle lifestyle. However, his whole world is about to shift around him, as he dives unexpectedly into another that he never thought he'd have contact with. Unsure how he might be able to survive in this new world, he wonders who orders him to do such risk-heavy tasks.


"Good morning, Hank, how's yours?" a hulk of an orc asked me, pulling my attention from the papers that stacked up tall next to the holo-projection of my current project.

As the holo-projection disappeared by my mental command, I tried to forget everything going through my head at the speed of sound. "Hey, Baron," I returned, sighing, using the nickname for my friend, Garrett, who oversaw security of the third and fourth floors of this Ares Facility. The thoughts racing in my head now ran at the speed of light. "It's been a pretty slow morning, haven't gotten very far on my work."

Technically, I wasn't lying there. The morning felt slow because I wasn't even working on my project, and thus, couldn't get very far. Something I'd learned quickly in business meetings is that to con or deceive someone, a little bit of truth made the lie that much more believable.

"So a usual day at work, then?" Garrett laughed. I nodded in reply. "So, did you see the game last night?" he asked, his eyes lighting up. I could tell he had, and had enjoyed it.

"No, I was working on my project," I said, thumbing toward the papers behind me. While the gesture was blatantly misleading and a lie, I had been working on a project of mine last night. One much, much more important than this next-gen weapon that Ares didn't want anyone to know about.

"Think I'll ever get to use it?" Garrett asked, the light in his eyes still there. I could tell what he was really asking.

"It's a weapon," I answered, telling him what he was really wanting to know, "and that's all I can tell you about it."

"Oooh," he replied, mocking curiosity. "You think a Shadowrunner might come in and take it?" I almost rolled my eyes at what he'd just said. He talked about them so simply, anyone who knew what they were really like could tell he'd really never actually had a true encounter with one. He'd never had a taste of their life. Some of you may be asking where I get off talking about such a thing like I know it all, me, a simple wage-slave.

It's because I've had contact with their world, if only the tip of my finger touching the surface at the deep end of the pool, twelve feet deep. Despite that small bit of contact, I was about to fall in. Someone had already pushed me from behind, and I've just shot my hands out in front of me, a vain attempt to stop my fall.

This push I'd received was given two nights ago. It'd started like any other night on the weekend, as I'd gone to the local pub to relieve some of the stress from my overbearing workload, created by my bosses amongst the Corp. One woman was more willing to talk to me than any other had been. I should've known there was a reason, but after I passed out from either being drunk or something much worse, I woke at my house, my head pounding.

Believing it was a hangover, I cursed my stupidity and began sending a message to my overlords about how I was sick. I noticed the time was 9:32 and knew I was already late, no use in trying to get to work, unless I wanted to be yelled and cursed at for two hours and trade my lunch for a day's worth of work. Just before sending my message to my boss that hovered in the middle of my vision, I received a message. Knowing no one messaged me on a work day, I was struck clueless, completely forgetting about my sick day message.

 _Go to work, Hank_ , it said.

I tried to read their commcode to ask who they were, but it was obscured, blurred and crossed out multiple times with thick lines.

 _Do as I command you, or there will be consequences_ , is all they said back. Groaning, I got up, moving through the house. Pictures of my family, my wife and daughter, hung on the walls. I didn't look for them in my rush to get ready for work; I knew Rina had already been taken to school by Serena on her way to work, early in the morning. They wouldn't have even noticed that I was sleeping in. _Going to a pub on the weekend when you have a family to be with? Naughty, Hank_.

 _They had been gone at a school event last night_ , I thought to myself, wishing I had a way to tell this mysterious person as such. For those of you believing me too calm for the situation, I knew blackmail when I saw it. I'd used it, I'd received it before. I really didn't even care I couldn't respond to the message, I'd already thought through what must've happened last night. They had my name because I might've mentioned it. I might've even given them my commcode.

But I was in some state that caused me to black out. Who could say if I knew how to get home? Someone must've gotten me here by themselves. If they knew where I lived, who's to say they didn't know where my family had been last night? I decided to play along until I could figure out who that woman was and ask her a few questions.

Once I was on the bus, less people than usual crowding it. I was sure I didn't, in fact, have a hangover. The only symptom was the headache, which wasn't as bad as I'd initially thought. Something was making the back of my head sore, though. Was I drugged?

As I walked into work, another set of words floated in my vision, _Here's what you need to do_. I went through a mild security check, almost missing security's commands at first, waiting for the next message. Once I was through, my vision was obscured by a big block of text. Riding the elevator to the third floor, I read furiously, disbelief mounting on doubt, mounting on worry, mounting on fear. What they asked of me was impossible.

 _As you may know, Ares develops tech, namely weapons and aerotech. You've designed both, securing your position in the building you work in quite well. However, you don't work on all this tech. There is an aerotech project being developed in your building, on the fourth floor. You are to retrieve any data on this research, deleting the original copy, leaving nothing behind. Do this today._

Trying to stop my hands from shaking as I walked to my desk, I thought through it. I couldn't play along with this. There also wasn't any time to find the person now. I wasn't some Master Hacker that could trace these messages, find their location and hit them with enough biofeedback to make them leave me alone within an hour. Even if I did try it with the little hacking knowledge I had, I had no way of covering my tracks and disguising my actions so they wouldn't see me coming. I didn't have the knowledge or the programs. All I've ever tried in the hacking realm, really, was launching a few attack programs at a friend's agent to test the program for them.

Baron came asking how I was, as usual, and noticed something, asked if I was okay. I shrugged it off as best I could, saying I'd had a rough morning. Baron made a joke of being chewed out for being late and walked away. One of my bosses found me and gave me a lecture about being on a team and whatever, told me to get to work, that he expected me to catch up and meet the checkpoint deadline at the end of the week.

When only an hour of my shift remained, I received another message, _tick tock_. I couldn't move, could hardly do my work. It wasn't fun, and I began to wonder how drastic the consequences would be if I didn't do it. I must've decided the trade-off was worth it, because at the end of my shift, I got on the elevator and left. As I got on the bus, I received another message, _tsk, tsk, tsk_. I wondered what that meant.

I went through my evening, hoping the consequences would be lighter than the possibility of a Criminal SIN. _Perhaps you don't understand the gravity of the situation,_ another message said, lighting up my vision as I watched myself brush my teeth in the mirror. I didn't get another message until right as I laid down next to Serena, my wife, who was already asleep. It was another block of text that I read with my eyes closed to keep the light from my contacts from lighting the room.

 _I'm more lenient than some of those that work in the Shadows. I'll let this go for now, but you must act tomorrow. I don't care how you complete your objective, so long as you get me the data I requested. Perhaps you also need incentive. If you think the consequences are better than having a Criminal SIN, you're mistaken. Not knowing what has happened to your wife or daughter, having them suddenly disappear would be much worse. Wondering what's making your head hurt? I hope you've heard of cranial bombs, because you now have one. These are only three possible consequences, and I have more I can enact. And if you think this objective is difficult, I can give you an even harder one after issuing one of my many consequences._

I'm not sure if I fell asleep, or passed out from the shock, but I awoke to find my wife and daughter gone. I hoped they had simply left early, like always, and prepared myself for what I was about to do today, to protect my family and my own life. As I settled into my cubicle, a plan formulating in my head at the speed of sound, Garrett walked up with his greeting.

Now, with my thoughts going at the speed of light, I gave what I was sure was a blatant lie. "No, Baron, I don't think we'll have any security problems today," I said, smiling as sincerely as I could, thinking of the funny face Rina had made with a piece of bread during supper last night.


End file.
